Obituary: Jerome B. Myers

PHILADELPHIA—Jerome B. Myers, a neckwear legend who helped build the Rooster label and a longtime furnishings executive at Polo Ralph Lauren, has died. He was 83.

Myers left a successful career in real estate to join Philadelphia-based Rooster Neckwear in the late 1950s. He became president of the company shortly after that and led it for nearly 30 years. The company hit hard times in the late ’80s. It was put up for sale in 1988, and Myers resigned in 1989 as the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, ending a long and successful run.

Myers launched Nautica’s neckwear line immediately after leaving Rooster, and then consulted for Burberry. In 1994, at the age of 65, he joined Polo Ralph Lauren as SVP of neckwear, a position he held for almost 20 years, commuting daily to New York from Philadelphia. He was finally forced to retire because of an illness.

He also served as president of the Neckwear Association of America, an organization that once elected him “Man of the Year.” A 2009 profile of Myers in Philadelphia Magazine called him the city’s most fashionable man and said, “He wasn’t just a tie guy; he was the tie guy.”

A memorial service for Myers was scheduled for this morning at Joseph Levine & Sons in Broomall, Penn., followed by a burial at Har Jehuda Cemetary in Upper Darby, Penn.

Jerry was a gent with great taste !……..I had the good fortune to serve as president of Rooster after jerry’s reign ( 1991-1994)…..He was kind enough and caring enough to pass along to me the thoughts that he had for the benefit of the Rooster brand and it’s new owners. I will never forget his kindness and generosity in sharing his knowledge with me.